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| A walk along the lake, Central Park, Schenectady, NY. 1919 C.W. Hughes and Company, Mechanicville, NY (Wayne Tucker Postcard Collection at Grems-Doolittle Library). Like many of you, I enjoy postcards and collect them personally. This one caught my attention because one of my favorite activities is walking my dog in the park. |
I’m thrilled to join the staff of the Schenectady County
Historical Society as the librarian. I’ve been involved with historical
societies and local history museums for most of my life, but my professional
experience thus far has been in higher education. Most recently, I was the
archivist at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, OH.
I grew up in Harrisburg, PA, in a family of teachers. When I
started as a history major at Northeastern University in Boston, MA, most of my
family expected me to follow in their footsteps, but I fell in love with
processing archives and special collections. I started as an assistant in the
University Archives and sought volunteer and intern positions in a variety of
archives and museums. One of my favorite
internships involved cataloging souvenirs and books in the USS Constitution
Museum collection. I earned a masters degree in history from Northeastern and a
masters of library science from the University of Pittsburgh. My first job out
of college was as a library circulation assistant at Harrisburg Area Community
College, but my passion for archives and history drove me to establish the
college’s archives and serve as the first archives and reference specialist. I
moved to Cleveland a little over three years ago to take the archivist position
at Cuyahoga Community College. My work as the archivist there focused on collaborating
with faculty to bring the collection into the classroom and increasing the
discoverability of the collection through finding aids and other descriptions. Currently,
my goals as the SCHS librarian include learning where everything in the
collection is located and getting to know the SCHS community, especially our
excellent volunteers! Looking forward, I plan to encourage the community’s engagement
with the collection through increased access and discoverability, grow and
preserve the collection, and use the materials in a variety of programs and
outreach activities.
As a new resident of the Schenectady area, I have a lot to
learn about the history as well as figuring out my new job and the library
collections. All of the staff, volunteers, and researchers have been generous
with sharing their knowledge and teaching me what I need to know. I have a long
reading list and I’m excited to explore the county. If you have suggestions for
books to read, places to visit, or people to meet, please share! I hope you’ll
stop by the library to say hello and tell me about your research, family, and
memories of Schenectady.
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| Erie Canal crossing the Mohawk River at the Aqueduct in Schenectady, New York. 1907 Robson & Adee, Publishers, Schenectady, NY (Wayne Tucker Postcard Collection at Grems-Doolittle Library). I learned about Ohio's perspective on the Erie Canal while living in Cleveland, and I'm starting to learn about its impact on Schenectady. |
Best,
Marietta Carr
